I am a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a layer of gooey,
delicious nougat.

I graduated in 2009 from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in
Physics, and I have returned to Chicago to seek out my fortune in
this topsy-turvy world. So far, I think I've done alright.

A day spent without playing music is a day wasted. A day playing
music, wasted, is a day well spent.

I also like to brew my own beer. It is similar to doing science;
there are exact measurements to take, and precise procedures to
follow. It reminds me of doing lab work, which I kind of miss in a
masochistic way, only instead of producing a paper on "The Effects
of Sample Composition on Temperature Dependent Phenomena in Relaxor
Ferroelectric Materials" at the end, it produces beer, which is
more fun at parties.

I have been to nine countries and three continents, and I plan to
at minimum double that by the time I'm 30.

Books: Tom Robbins is my homeboy. If you've read Still Life With
Woodpecker and didn't enjoy it, I don't think our love was meant to
be. If you haven't read it, you should go do that. Like, now.
Seriously. It's that good.

Other favorites: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by
Kurt Vonnegut, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Siddhartha by Herman
Hesse, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, Hard Times
by Charles Dickens, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway,
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.

I also have a raging boner for anything written by William
Shakespeare.

Movies: I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi the other day, and it was
quite possibly the most beautiful series of images I have ever
seen.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind, Primer, The Big Lebowski, Being John Malkovitch, Moon,
American Beauty, The Fifth Element, Magnolia, Au Revoir Les
Enfants, Dr. Strangelove, The Royal Tennenbaums, High Fidelity,
Gladiator, WALL-E, and anything by Quentin Tarantino, Stanley
Kubrick, the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, or
Charlie Kaufman.

When I was a kid, I took figure skating lessons until 3rd grade.
Not hockey skating lessons, but honest to god, Brian Boytano,
spandex outfit figure skating lessons. I was not the most popular
child in grade school.